This is the first of my new monthly
journal on my life journey as a novice witch.
This first one is simply a résumé of how I came to be a novice witch and
how I learn my craft. It gives a brief
summary of what I have learnt to-date but will go into more detail of my
experiences and learning in the following months. I hope you enjoy following this journey with
me. I would be happy to hear from anyone
whether you are an experienced witch of many years or starting out like
me. I am always grateful for advice,
tips and feedback.
Journal
of a Novice Witch
By Earthshine
Now forgive
me for saying this but if it had been foretold, when I was in my early twenties, that when I reached my forties, my life-path
would change and I would be living and studying the life of a witch, I would
have fallen off my chair laughing. Don’t
be ridiculous, I would have thought, witches belong to the world of fiction,
films and children’s books like Meg &
Mog. I was very narrow minded back
then!!
But life
events conspired to make me sit up and think about my life, where I was going
and what I wanted to do with it. I
started to feel deep within that there was something I was missing, some path
or direction I needed to follow to feel rooted and whole. I began interacting more with the natural world;
I’d always loved animals and nature so this felt easy and right. I became
interested in complementary therapies and read up on different therapies and
ways to enhance your health and wellbeing in a natural and holistic way. I went on to train in Reiki, Crystal Healing
and Flower and Vibrational Essence Therapy, all beautiful vibrational therapies
that work on our energy fields. However,
all the while I was studying I had this feeling that this was leading me
somewhere beyond simply being a holistic therapist.
I felt this
desire, or need, or ‘something’ pulling me towards something as yet
unidentified and I found myself buying a few books on paganism. Being a relatively solitary person I found Hedgewitchery
really interesting and bought some books on this too. Although I was drawn to
the naturalness of it, it all looked a bit daunting and the thought of spells, rituals,
athames, chalices and so forth scared me slightly, so the books ended up on my
bookshelf gathering dust, and I ended up joining a local Nichiren Daishonin
Buddhist group. However, despite the
beauty and gentleness of this Buddhist way of life I never felt rooted in it,
it was like I didn’t really belong, like it was spirituality for another
culture, and there was still this pull coming from deep within me, and I found
myself reading my pagan and Hedgewitch books again, and I definitely felt that
this was the right path for me.
And so I left
my Buddhist practice and my life as a novice witch began. I started to study and research, drawing on
knowledge from books and the internet. But
there was so much to learn, so much to think about and new ways to think about
things. Where do you begin? How do you know you are doing it right?
Now there are
many things involved in the path that are straightforward and easy to incorporate
into your daily life, such as respecting and working with nature and the
natural cycle of things, and I was doing a lot of this anyway. But then there are Sabbats and Esbats, and
God and Goddesses, so many of them, and many with names I couldn’t pronounce
(and am still learning); there are spells and rituals and casting and closing a
circle, now that was scary, what if I cast a circle and let the wrong energy
in, or I didn’t close it properly? What
if I was opening up myself to some dark energy and didn’t know how to handle it?
There were so many questions whirling round in
my head, which isn’t good news when you’re of an obsessive nature, so what to
do, do I go it alone and use trial and error and intuition, yes I could do
that, but I felt I needed a bit more guidance and knowledge from others to help
set me off and build my confidence. But
where do you begin? Do you type in
‘Witches in Dorset’ (I live in Dorset) on Google? Well actually I did do this and it brought up
historical info, not the name of my local Witch group!! So this didn’t help.
I did however
make connections through friends I’ve made through my vibrational energy work
and started to enhance my knowledge a little here. But I was also looking for
more practical experience to aid my confidence and my knowledge, and also to
meet like-minded people even though I am following a solitary path.
This time I
did an online search for ‘Pagans Dorset’ and the first result was the Dorset
Grove, result, a local Druid group that ran open rituals to celebrate the wheel
of the year. Although it is a Druid
group they welcome all Pagans whatever path you follow, and they all looked
very friendly in their photos on the web-site too!! So I duly emailed and received a prompt
welcoming email in return.
Now I have to
admit that I didn’t attend the first ritual that came up, when push came to
shove I bottled out, too self conscious and scared to go. Goddess knows why,
and now I have to admit to feeling rather silly about feeling like this, as
when I did attend my first ritual with the Dorset Grove, in the very spiritual
setting of Knowlton Church, the experience was beautiful, the people were
friendly, down to earth and welcoming. There
were lot of smiles, laughter, vibrant energy, and a beautiful ritual, my very
first ritual, to celebrate Beltane. I
was gifted with a stunning staff and wand, and cake! Now I have a feeling that cake will feature
quite a bit in my witch path, and I will talk more in this in a bit.
I came away
from my first ritual feeling blessed, energized and happy, and also with the
confidence to do my own simple rituals at home having experienced a proper
official one. I was also raring for the
next ritual which happened to be just as special, as it was at Stonehenge
celebrating the Summer Solstice, and I where I would meet, in person for the
first time, some more lovely and special people who I am just about to talk
about.
In addition,
to joining the Dorset Grove I also found the lovely Kitchen Witch team and
their online Kitchen Witch forum. This
is full of information covering all areas of witchery and a fantastic resource
that is updated regularly, and is ideal for making contact with others
following the same path. Not long after
I joined the forum they started up their online School of Natural Witchery, and
I was one of the first pupils to join as it is perfect for the novice like me,
or for anyone wanting to study natural witchcraft.
Starting at
the beginning they provide a structured programme to teach you the path of
Kitchen Witchery, but what I like about it is that it is not learning by rote
and reading alone, you are encouraged to research and experiment and bring your
own interpretation of each subject to the course. And, you receive constructive feedback on
your lessons and positive encouragement at all times.
The added
bonus is that you can also learn what are called branch lessons which expand
your knowledge and skills as you make your way through the main course work, I
am currently studying tarot, runes and magical herbs!! And….we have online rituals, chats and
constant contact with the leadership team and other students, so have become a
proper online witch community that you can join in with whenever you want to. Oh, and the other thing which I referred to
earlier, there is definitely a cake thing going on in the Kitchen Witch
School. I’ve come to think that the only
pre-requisite to joining the school is that you either like eating cake or
talking about it; seeing as I like both I think I fit in well.
The Kitchen
Witch School has been perfect for me as like many, I am working, running a home
and walking three dogs three times a day, and time and money is limited. Therefore I can study at my own pace, in my
own time and incorporate what I have learnt into my everyday life.
Thus far I
have studied energy working, meditation, grounding and centring, which I have
to admit I already knew as part of my vibrational work, so I probably had an
easier time on these lessons than those that haven’t worked with them before,
as they can take some mastering – but don’t tell teacher!! I have written about Clear Quartz and I have
studied my first deity, Sulis, or Minerva as she is also known. And most importantly I have learnt that I was
already working with energy and tools that are very important to the life of a
witch. And the fact, as I mentioned
earlier, that I felt my holistic studies were leading me beyond that of just a
therapist seems to have been right, and in a way they were preparing me for my
life as a witch, giving me some essential skills that I would require, and this
has been very enlightening. That the course also requires the study of crystals
is great too as it makes me go back and research my crystals again, and this is
excellent for deepening my relationship with my crystals.
And so I feel
my journey as a witch is truly now underway, and I look forward to following and
living this path.
For now I say
farewell and wish you a happy Mabon.
Blessings
Earthshine
In my next lesson at the Kitchen Witch
School I will be studying the Wheel of the Year.
I am so looking forward to this and
will be writing about it, along with my Mabon celebrations and other experiences
in my next instalment of the Journal of a Novice Witch. xx
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